Tales of Neo-Zestiria
by TheFallenAlphaAngel
Summary: What happens when a certain multi-colored mute witness's the coming of the new Shepard? Alternate Universe; I'm still bad a summaries. No pairings as of yet.
1. Chapter 1

Chaos broke out in the church of Lady Lake, with Hellions and Malevolence surging up after the Princess Knight of Lady Lake, Alisha, gave a speech about the significance of the festival. Brown and Pink eyes watched on, holding onto her Umbrella in case any thing tried to make a move on her. However, before much more intensity could happen in the church, a bright light shone from the sword in the stone, as a young man with brown hair and green eyes removed said sword. _The Shepherd's Sword?! So... He's the new Shepherd?_

In a flash the Shepherd went to work on the Hellions and soon enough through the power of purification, he vanquished the Malevolence. There was a lighter air around the entire church, and a few children were smiling now. In a flash however, the new Shepard collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Before she could move to try and protect the new Shepard, Alisha was already there, picking up the man up and yelling instructions to the other Knights in the Church. Her old job as a bodyguard for one of the wealthier, and shadier, citizens of Lady Lake made her reflexes a lot faster than the average humans, but even she couldn't keep up with the Princess Knight and her speed. She would have to bide her time before she could show herself to the Shepherd.

Soon enough the knights had moved everyone out of the church, causing her to wander around town for a bit. A few slight-of-hand tricks, and a soft-serve ice-cream cone later, the Pink and Brown eyed woman made her way to her nearby hide out. She had a genuine smile on her face as she devoured her ice-cream cone. Ice cream was always her favorite, unfortunately she could hardly find her favorite flavor. Neapolitan. The main reason why it was her favorite? She was named after it. Neopolitan, or Neo for short, from her unusual appearance. The left side of her hair was brown, and the right side was pink, her left eye was pink, and her right was brown. Toss in her skin tone and it's nearly identical to the ice cream.

Neo would just relax until the Shepherd would awaken. From the experience she's had with her previous shady employer, Roman Torchwick, she got used to the aura of Malevolence, enough to the point that she could feel the whole town, especially the underground waterways, was full of Malevolence, and hopefully the Shepherd would be able to help. Not to mention that if Neo could get the Shepherd to allow her to help him, she would feel a lot better about her previous immoral activities. Neo didn't really like working for Roman, especially with all the illicit activities he goes through, but it gave her enough money to live comfortably.

Neo shook her head from the thoughts of her past. Once she gets the Shepherd to listen to her, she can leave her past behind her. Maybe... Maybe even find a way to make it up to her old seraph friend, Coco. With a smile and a final bite of her ice-cream, Neo closed her eyes and waited for the Shepherd to awaken.

* * *

It took three days before the Shepherd awoke from his slumber, but fortunately for Neo, she was quite patient. As she was wandering the streets, she saw a flash of white in the corner of her eyes. With a glance, to the right, she saw him. The Shepherd was walking away from the inn. Now was her chance! As she approached him from the side, Neo heard him talking.

"So Mikleo, where do you think Liliah is taking us?" _What? Is he talking to himself?_ Shortly after, he spoke again. "I dunno either. I mean, we haven't been in Lady Lake long. I don't believe we are going towards the wealthy district, that was near the church right?" Again, after a few seconds, the Shepherd began talking again. "I thought so. Towards the waterfall maybe? Wait, what do you mean someone could hear me?" The Shepherd looked confused for a moment before turning his head towards Neo, who was walking closer to him.

"Oh! Hello there, I'm Sorey. Is there anything I can help you with?" For a moment, Neo was very confused as to why the Shepherd, Sorey he said his name was, was talking to himself, but quickly got into focus and started signing to him. Sorey tilted his head for a second and frowned softly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Can you not speak?" Neo shook her head. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, that must have been very rude of me!" Neo's eyes widened and tried to calm down Sorey. "Um… let's see… are you lost?" A shake of her head. "So you were looking for me?" She noticed Sorey's hand move to his holstered sword. Neo gulped, knowing she had to proceed carefully. She gave Sorey a nod.

"I see. What did you want?" Neo noticed his voice get a little colder. _I can understand his defensiveness. I mean, he is THE Shepherd. Some people may have already tried to assault him._ Neo had thought about the potential error of him not knowing sign-language, but didn't blame him the in the slightest. Not that many people in Lady Lake bothered with making time for learning new languages. She pulled out a piece of paper that she had written on earlier, and handed it to him.

Hello Shepherd! 

It is an honor to be in your presence. Would it be possible for me to accompany you on your journey? I am a very capable bodyguard, and have fought your enemies, the Hellions before! I could be a very valuable asset on your quest. I won't require payment of any kind! What do you say? 

-Neo

Once Sorey was finished reading the paper, he glanced behind him slightly before turning to Neo. "I'm not sure. I'd have to check with my other companions. Would you mind waiting at the Inn?" Neo smiled and nodded. "Great! I'll be back soon okay?" And with that he hurried off towards the direction of the Aqueduct. With hope in her heart, she made her way to the inn.

 _Please say I can join!_


	2. Chapter 2

"She can't join." Lailah told both Sorey and Mikleo at the docs, her dress and hair flowing in the small breeze at the docks of Lady Lake.

"What? But why not?" Mikleo asked, slightly changing his stance.

"We have no proof that this woman, Neo-" Here, she looked back to the piece of paper that had the name on it to make sure that it was the correct name. "Yes that's the right way to say it, Neo, that she is a trustworthy type of individual. We can't risk her interfering with, or even trying to stop your journey Sorey! All these people could perish if we don't get rid of the Lord of Calamity."

"But from what she wrote, and how she acted, Neo seemed pretty genuine." Mikleo tried to convince. "I don't really see the harm in it. We just need to defeat the Lord of Calamity, right? Shouldn't we get more help because of that goal?" He turned to Sorey who looked deep in thought. There was a moment of silence before the new Shepherd looked up.

"We should talk to Neo about it. She needs to know for certain that this is what she wants to do. She didn't seem to have any Malevolence in her." Mikleo seemed surprised that Sorey was taking a more mature approach to this incident. His surprise quickly faded though once he heard an intense growling.

"You just want to go back to the Inn to eat, don't you." It wasn't a question. Sorey just smiled at Mikleo and turned away.

"First, we eat! Second, we talk to Neo. Third, we defeat the Lord of Calamity!" Even Lailah had trouble not smiling at the newest Shepherd's positive attitude.

 ** _SCENE CHANGE_**

Neo was sitting in the Inn, waiting patiently for the Shepherd to make due on his promise. After around twenty minutes of waiting, she was about to give up hope before the Inn's door opened. _He came! Please, let me join you!_ She mentally hoped. Sorey nodded to Neo and held up a finger, the universal sign for 'just a minute'. Sorey sat down and Neo swore that two other chairs moved at the table, one right next to Sorey and one across from him. _Maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks on me…._ Neo rubbed her eyes and tried to clear them of potential sleep remaining in them. Before Neo could continue on that train of thought, she heard a loud growl and then an intense pain. _Food sounds good too._ So Neo pulled out her little notepad and started to write a note to the chef at the Inn. Junior made some of the best drinks in town, and was known to make a mean Drago Stew, and he did owe her a favor for that incident at the other tavern in Lady Lake.

Once Junior grudgingly handed over her meal, she walked to the same table as the Shepherd's. In a few seconds, a note was presented to him stating:

Would you mind if I joined you?

~Neo

When Sorey looked up at Neo, she gestured with her bowl of stew hinting that she meant at the table to eat, not on his journey as Shepherd. He quickly glanced at Mikleo and Lailah, to see if it was okay with them. Mikleo didn't seem to mind, but Lailah was hesitant and eventually gave a reluctant nod. "Sure Ms. Neo! The more the merrier." Neo looked slightly embarrassed, and sat down diagonally from him, with a small smile upon her face. Neo wrote a quick note to Sorey.

Please Mr. Shepherd, it's just Neo. Ms. Neo makes me sound old. I'm only 18, not 32!

~Neo

Sorey gave it a quick read through before placing the paper down far enough to where both Lailah and Mikleo could read her answer. "Oh, I'm sorry Neo. I just assumed, since you look so mature and all, and that you've been a bodyguard before." Neo blushed slightly, not used to compliments in her line of work. She mostly only got death threats from the people targeting her person she guarded, or a small thanks from the body she successfully guarded. "Also, please, call me Sorey. I wasn't the Shepherd until three days ago and likely haven't deserved the title."

So Mr. Sorey, what are your plans after this? ~Neo

Sorey smiled lightly, _I guess I technically didn't say to not refer to me as Mr._ Before he could open his mouth however, Lailah spoke up. "Don't be specific. We don't know if we can trust her."

The newly-dubbed Shepherd tried his best to prevent himself from rolling his eyes. "I'm not to sure Neo. Why? Trying to get a chance to prove yourself?" Sorey asked curiously. But before he gave Neo a chance to write her mind out, he looked at her bowl of Drago Stew, only to find it empty. "H-how? I mean… it hasn't even been 2 minutes yet?!"

The Ice-cream colored girl just laughed silently, and gestured to her stomach as well as giving a thumbs up to Sorey. After a silent yawn, as well as a stretch, she began writing another note.

I still want to join you on your journey Sorey, so this would be a great way to prove myself to you that I'm trustworthy!

~Neo

Sorey's eye twitched as he noticed that she didn't answer his question, but took a deep breath to ignore that issue. "But why exactly do you want to help me? You already said that you didn't want pay, and that's a little bit strange." Neo thought to herself about it for a second. She raised a finger to signify to wait a second and pulled out a slightly crumbled up piece of paper that already seemed to have writing on it.

I want to be a better person. I want to forget the life I used to lead. I just thought that if there was any way for me to make the world a better place, I would take that chance and hold on to it for as long as I could. I'm not proud of the person I used to be, doing anything I could just to survive, but now? I don't want to be Neopolitan, the psychopathic and cruel Survivor anymore. I want to be Neo, the sane and generous bodyguard. I just want to help people and that's all the payment I need. Please let me join you! I don't want to be that person anymore!

~Neo

The paper that Sorey was holding had tear marks on it, and when he looked up to make eye-contact with the heterochromia inflicted woman, only to see tears threatening to fall out of her multicolored eyes. "All right Neo, I'm going to be honest with you. I trust you. If it were up to soley me, you could join right here and now. But, one of my friends doesn't trust you just yet. Alright?" Neo's eyes slightly opened wider, filled with hope. She quickly scribbled a note as Mikleo smiled at her mood change, and Lailah seemed conflicted. Lailah voiced her opinion to Sorey as he began to read Neo's note.

"Well, ask her what it she would do to prove herself. If she really wants to join us, she should be willing-" Sorey cut her off by showing her Neo's note.

I will do whatever it takes for me to prove myself to your friends Sorey! Let me show you just what I'm made of!

~Neo

Lailah shook her head slightly and gave a small smile at the woman sitting next to her. "Well that answers my question. I'll give her one chance." The newly made Shepherd nodded towards Lailah.

"You got a chance right now, Neo. Try to impress her alright?" Neo's eyes finally let out the tears that rested in them, and she quickly walked around the table and tightly held Sorey repeatedly mouthing the words 'Thank you'. Sorey looked very confused for a minute and Mikleo laughed at him.

"Poor Sorey, he doesn't know how to deal with girls suddenly holding him and crying." The Shepherd glared at his best friend, just making the Seraph laugh harder.


End file.
